Hour 3

What photo printer to buy, making free calls online, installing Windows 10 on a small hard drive, sound bars that support Dolby At Home, internet access in remote areas, Microsoft's Windows Defender vs. third party antivirus software, iPhone vs. DSLR cameras, how to remove photos from an iPhone but keep them in the cloud, and Chris Marquardt talks about how to get better photos out of an airplane window, and more of your calls.

Guests

Audience Questions

Audience QuestionsHour 1

Sylvi would like a good photo printer. Mostly 5x7 and below. Leo says the very best is made by Epson. If she's into black and white, they're the way to go. But Canon's Pixma is another more affordable option that Leo really likes.

Debra has a Dell XPS 15 and would like to install Microsoft Office 2016. Will she be able to since it's 32 bit? Leo says that buying the Office 365 subscription would be a better option, because then she will always have the most recent version.

Mark wants to combine his work's LastPass account with his personal one. Leo says that his personal stuff can be attached, but it won't be visible at work. Leo recommends keeping the accounts separate. That way, if he leaves the job, his employer doesn't have access to his data.

Tim would like to make free calls online. How can he do that? Leo recommends Google Voice. He can call the US, Mexico and Canada for free, and other international calls are about $0.02 a minute. There is no such thing as free service from a phone company, but he can get LifeLine service for under $10 a month.

John heard about Sprint's free for a year deal. Is it legit? Leo says it is, but the devil is in the details. He'll have to pay taxes on it. He'll have to pay $12.99 up front, and he'll have to bring his own phone. He can read more about it here.

Audience QuestionsHour 2

Tom heard about Dolby Atmos at Home coming to the Apple TV. Is there a sound bar that will support it? Leo says that Atmos at Home works by bouncing sound off the ceiling. This simulates speakers mounted from above. But a sound bar would only give him a hint of it. It won't really give him the same experience as an Atmos at Home Theater system. There is a listing of sound bars over at the Dolby site though, and Leo likes the Vizio.

Kurt says his HP Deskjet disconnects from the internet and he has to turn it off and back on to wake it up. Leo says there's an ECO mode that conserves power in the settings. Disable that. Also, assign a specific IP address and reserve that in your router. Then you'll have a static IP address that will keep it woke up.

Sharon wants to get a new iPad mini but she hears they may get discontinued. Leo says nobody really knows, but since they haven't updated it in awhile, everyone thinks it may not be updated. Leo says it'll still be good if she wants to buy one now. The latest models, if they aren't discontinued, will be updated to have Face ID, but Leo says that's not really a big deal. So if she wants to buy one, she should go ahead.

Ben bought an IOGear KeyShair KVM switcher. KVM stands for Keyboard, Video and Mouse, and is great for switching between two devices. This one is a dongle that plugs into the computer and uses Bluetooth to connect to mobile devices as well. The problem is that he can't see the mouse cursor in Windows 10, even though it's there. It's puzzling.

Leo says it may not be Windows 10, per se, but the configuration of his Surface tablet. Ben should go into the mouse settings and see what it will do. But since he has the same problem with his wife's surface, it sounds like an issue with Windows 10 pro's security settings.

Alan's brother lives in a remote region and he wants to know his best option for internet access. Leo says the best way to do it is probably via 4G/LTE. He can get himself a MiFi device and then he can connect up to five devices and he'll have internet access. For remote areas, as long as you have good cell service, that's becoming the best option.

Audience QuestionsHour 3

Al's antivirus software is up for renewal. Does he really have to pay for another year? Leo says no. Windows has its own antivirus called Windows Defender, and it's free. It does a really good job. There's also a possibility that third party antivirus software could make him more vulnerable to hackers, not less. Al will need to download their standalone uninstaller to get rid of that third party app. Then enable Windows Defender and keep it up to date. But he should remember, no antivirus can protect him from himself. Al shouldn't open attachments, download stuff from strangers, update Flash, or use HTML email. He should just get software from people he knows and trusts.

Steve just became a father and wants to know how good the iPhone is for a camera. Leo says it does the job, but it's not going to be as good as a pocket camera or a DSLR. Since Ken is a Nikon user, he's going to want to stay in the family. Steve was looking at a D7500, which Leo says is good, and he was also considering the EOS 80D. Leo says the 80D is nice too, but that's Canon, so it would use different lenses. Leo says the big expense with a digital camera, and the part he'll be keeping the longest, is the lens. Lens technology isn't advancing anywhere near as fast as body technology.

Leo says he should just plan on using the lenses he has, and doesn't recommend that he get a kit lens. He should just get the body. The Nikon D7500 is a good camera.

Brett was looking at the Sony Alpha line of mirrorless cameras, but they're pretty expensive. Are there more affordable options out there? Leo says it's so expensive because it's full frame. That would give him a much better image, especially in low light. But Leo suggests looking at a micro four-thirds camera like the Panasonic GH5. It's half the price of the Sony.

Leo's personal favorite, though, is the Olympus OMD. The still images they shoot are spectacular. Check out Lisa's photo site at LifeofLisa.com for examples.

John is frustrated that he can't delete the pictures on his phone without deleting them from iCloud. Leo says that if he selects "optimize phone storage" in settings, it will delete it on the phone without deleting it on iCloud. But he'll have to select "Keep Originals" on his Mac so it doesn't delete there.

A better option is to use Google Photos. It's free and it will back up everything on the phone. Then he can select "delete everything I've backed up" and it will remove the photos from the phone, but keep them in the cloud.

Fifteen states now have bills posed to allow citizens the right to repair what they buy. Meanwhile, companies like John Deer and Apple are being very litigious in preventing third parties from repairing their products.

With the huge suggest of Pokemon Go, the game's creator, Niantic, is set to release a new version set in the world of Harry Potter. Leo says you think it's bad now, wait until you can go after Dementors with your virtual wand. And Niantic has it's hands full right now, as home owners have sued the company over people trespassing on their private property looking for Pokemon monsters. https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/15/18226604/niantic-pokemon-go-lawsuit-c...

A decision by a court in Germany has declared that Facebook must stop collecting data on users without their consent, and give them the option to opt-out. Facebook is appealing, and says without the ability to collect data, they would have to shut down the social network access nationwide. Leo says that is part of the deal you make with Facebook. Free services for collecting data on your usage of Facebook. Someone has to pay the bills.

Leo says that folding phones are going to be the buzz word at this year's Mobile World Congress. Even Energizer, the battery company, is announcing one as part of their 26 model line of new phones. They are also going to do a phone with an 18000mAh battery, four times the battery life of the Note 9.

Leo also says sales of mobile phones have plateaued, and that means the "silly season" is about to start, where phone companies start adding "fins" and other silly features to lure customers back to buy.